In general, rigid wrappers of the type in question with a hinged lid are box-like, presenting the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and designed to hold a plurality of packets of cigarettes, in the case of a carton, or an ordered group of cigarettes enveloped in an inner wrapper normally of metal foil paper, in the case of a packet of cigarettes.
The rigid wrapper comprises a container, also a lid hinged to a rear edge of the container and rotatable thus between positions in which the container is open and closed, respectively. Normally, the rigid wrapper comprises a top end face, a bottom end face, a rear face consisting in a continuous panel divided into two parts by a transverse hinge line along which the lid and the container are joined, a front face comprising two distinct portions constituting the front face of the container and the front face of the lid, respectively, and two flank faces each comprising two distinct portions constituting the flank face of the container and the flank face of the lid, respectively.
The container and lid are fashioned generally by folding a single diecut blank of cardboard or similar material. One side of the blank, constituting the external face of the wrapper that will be exposed to view, has a treated surface bearing written and decorative matter, whilst the other side constituting the internal face of the wrapper, concealed from view, is left untreated.
Rigid wrappers of the type described above are furnished normally with a stiffening frame, also of cardboard or similar material, positioned partially inside the container and breasted in contact with the inner surface of the front face and the flank faces of the selfsame container. The part of the frame that projects from the container functions essentially as an element against which the lid locates and is held stable when occupying the closed position.
The prior art embraces procedures for manufacturing wrappers of the type described above in which the groups of cigarettes, enveloped in their respective inner wrappers, are paired with frames cut from a continuous strip of paperboard separately from the blank constituting the rigid wrapper; the prior art also embraces procedures involving the use of flat diecut blanks with the frame already incorporated.
In the latter instance, more particularly, it is the practice to use a flat blank of which a central panel, coinciding with the front face of the rigid wrapper fashioned from the blank, is associated along one endmost edge with a stiffening frame, by way of an intermediate panel.
In a second type of blank incorporating a frame, the frame is connected to the edges of two lateral panels coinciding with the flanks of the rigid wrapper. When the wrapper is erected, the frame prepared in this way will be bent double into overlapping contact to the inside face of the front panel, and secured in position.
In both cases, the result of the bending operation is that the untreated face of the frame is brought into contact with the untreated face of the panels destined to form the front and flank faces of the wrapper, so that when the packet is opened, the portion of the frame projecting from the container and exposed to view will present its untreated face, which conversely is not the case when using frames cut separately from a continuous strip of paperboard and paired with the group of cigarettes.
As regards the use of a blank with the frame already incorporated, the solution described betrays a drawback in terms of appearance, and moreover, prevents a smooth sliding action of the lid when opened and closed by reason of the contact between the two untreated surfaces of the lid and the frame.
The object of the present invention is to provide a wrapper of rigid type with a hinged lid for cartons and for packets of cigarettes, such as will be lo unaffected by the drawbacks mentioned above.